Tension Mounted
by Lady Lara
Summary: A short story signifying the coming closer of Max and Alec, when they go to 'find' some money for TC


Tension Mounting

Disclaimer: All characters you recognize from tv don't belong to me and I don't make any money of using them. You've all read these before Let's just get on with it.

AN: I felt the sriters left some important stuff out of season 2, so I'm stuffing that in. I'm in the process of rewriting the end of season 2 and making my own season 3. These standalones are the set-up for that.

Standalone somewhere at the end of season 2, but before LatR

Without looking up from her work, Max knew she was no longer alone. Casually looking up from her desk she could see Alec and Biggs hunched over a table a short distance away. Alec was completely engrossed in what he was doing and Max observed him at her leisure. Just as she was wondering what Alec would be like without his shirt Alec came up from his hunched over position and pulled his shirt over his head. Now that she had a free gaze at his muscular back Max licked her lips and wondered what he tasted like.

In a moment the room cleared out and they were they only two left in the room. Max came up from her chair and moved in behind him. She put her hands on his back and moved them up to his shoulders then down and around to tickle his abs. Unable to restrain herself she put her open mouth on his shoulder and licked the muscular ridges she had felt with her hands. 'mmm.. he tasted at least as good as he smelled.'

Alec turned around in her arms and Max found herself eye to eye with his pectorals, moving her hands up to his shoulders and around him neck she put her mouth back on his skin. She softly moaned against his skin and let her lips move all over his chest. As she was enjoying herself something was tugging at the back of her mind. She suddenly realized that Alec was not responding to her, he had not even put his arms around her. She slowly moved her gave up to lock her eyes with his; she found her eyes locked to hers with a deadly stare. Before she could pull away she could see his face morphing out into that of......Logan. Logan all of a sudden now looked at her with an accusing stare.

"Why was I not good enough, and to add injury to insult you choose HIM over me, him a screw-up! How could you Max? Max ..... Max ..... Max"

Max got up with a start and found she was staring into Original Cindy amused face.

"Boo don't tell O. C. you had one of them dreams again."

Falling back down on her pillow Max grunted her consent, and after closing her eyes her another moment she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and accepted a cup of coffee from her friend. O.C. walked out of the room grinning, and left her 'boo' to get dressed.

Max looked down at her pager with dismay, it had been buzzing al morning and instead of being eager to call back al she wanted to do was though the thing out the window so it would stop. With a sigh she put the pager back at her belt and skidded to a halt in the middle of Jam Pony.

'3.....2...'

"Hey missy miss, I don't want to tell you again. No biking inside, now take this and get to work. Bip..." Max held up her hand before he could continue and took the small stack of packages out of his hand and started stuffing them in her bag. Tossing the bike to the side she made her way over to her locker and took out her lipgloss.

"What is it, boo? That bad, last night?" O.C. was asking in a concerned tone, but the twinkling in her eyes belied her concern.

"O.C. I should never have told you," Max sighed at looked up at her best friend, "How you got me to tell you, I have no idea."

"Simple boo, you had to get it out. All those frustrations are bad for you sweetie, it's like O.C. told you, maybe it's time you dealt with them." O.C. patted her friend's back and directed the others attention towards the entrance.

If Alec was surprised at the sight of the two women staring at him while he was walking in he managed to hide it well. He was expecting Max to dismiss him with a wave and a derive comment he would hear, thanks to his enhanced hearing. He was surprised at the tinge of pick crawling up from Max's neck and her whisper directed at O.C.

"Let it go O.C. I don't want to go there."

'Don't want to go where?' Alec thought to himself and decided to walk over and find out. He knew something was going on because in the last 2 weeks Max no longer hit him as often and when she did it lacked strength as though she didn't want to hurt him. He had no objection at the change but being feline he was curious what had caused this change of heart. Unfortunately Max tried to avoid talking to him directly, now that was fine with Alec 'cause boy did he love a challenge.

As he was walking over he felt his phone buzzing in his pockets and without slowing down he pulled it out and answered. "Yeah" After a few more grunts and ok's he hung up and changed direction towards Normal.

As always Normal greeted him jovially and tried to get in close enough for a pat on the back. Before Normal could start his tirade about missing him in the cage Alec interrupted. "Normal, I need a favor I need to go to the hospital to get a physical. Would it be alright if I took the afternoon off and took Max with me," He winked and continued, "for moral support."

"Sure Alec my man, we need to keep you healthy take all the time you need."

Max was about to tune out when she heard him ask for time off but when she heard her name her head snapped up and she caught the wink and the implication. She fumed but managed to keep the pretense up. Ok confused feelings and fantasies aside she was still Max, and there was no way she'd let him get away with that.

As he was walking over Alec already started talking, managing to stay out of arms reach. "Dix has some info, he's prepared a heist that should provide us with some much needed cash but we need to be there at 16:00 hours. Please don't hit me Max."

At the last sentence he stood in front of her and cringed waiting to receive the lashing he was going to get for this. Max lifted her hand to hit him and looked him in the eye and stopped moving. She paused and remembered her dream then looked at him standing before her. He could have stayed out of harm's way but knowing full well she would strike he came within arm's reach and prepared for the smack. Not one for wanting to be predictable she used her lifted hand to ruffle through his head and smirked.

"Well, next time first ask me whether I want to come with you, I could have plans you know."

Again Alec was pleasantly surprised at her response to him and his actions. While looking her in the eye he was wondering how far her good mood would go.

"Aah Maxie I was sure you wanted to make sure my ass was in good shape seeing how you're so obsessed with it."

Smiling Max made her way around him and while winking at Cece she pinched the topic of conversation.

"It looks fine to me" 'What the hell am I doing and saying, I need to get my head back in the game' Max shook her head in shock and quickly turned to walk to where she had abandoned her bike. As she was almost there she realized leaving was pointless without her bag she turned back and bumped into a brick wall. A brick wall, that turned out to be Alec's chest. Not daring to look up Max to see his response to her hasty action. She tried to push off and walk past him only to find her arms pinned to the side. Looking at them questioningly she brought her face up to ask Alec why he was holding her like that.

When her gaze came to his face she saw him smiling down on her but the arrogant smirk she usually saw wasn't there. He looked more amazed but pleasantly so, Max could feel a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Alec's smile was just that infectious. Max felt her bag being shoved in her hand and looked past Alec to O.C. who gave her a pointed stare.

Walking backwards Max freed herself and headed straight for her bike and out of Jam Pony without looking back once. What she didn't notice was that she was still smiling, and that everyone had seen.

Behind her Cece and O.C. shared a look and both looked at Alec, and then bursting out laughing. Alec looked from one to the other shrugged at took a stack of packages from Normal.

When the designated lunch time was almost over Max skidded to a halt in front of Jam Pony and walked al the while balancing a box on one hand. Tossing her bag aside and handing the list to Normal she made her way over to her friends, sitting together both transgenic and ordinary. Max smiled and knew the box would be well received, she figured the job would go into the night so both of them and their back up would have a late dinner so extra food at lunch was called for.

When she reached the group she could smell pizza and smiled, Alec had probably thought of the same thing. Before she would have been upset as his choice but lately she could see it for what it was. So she walked around the group till she stood behind Alec and brought done the box with a wave stopping it directly under his nose.

Alec's nose had already told him what was in the box and he made room for Max so she could sit next to him, while taking the box from her. Before he could thank her though, Sketchy broke in.

"Max, are you sure you want all three slices with tuna 'cause Alec said I couldn't have any till you .... Auch. O.C., what was that for?" Rubbing the back of his head, Sketchy turned to her friend while she motioned for him to shut up.

Max looked at him wondering why he was being so nice to her and saw him smiling at her again, as before she found a smile tugging again and caught herself smiling at him. Before she could completely forget her surroundings she motioned for him to open the box. Now she felt even better taking the detour and stopping at the bakery. Alec smiled and opened the box without taking his eyes off Max.

"Thank you Maxie, I really love chocolate chip cookies and brownies."

Max nodded in thanks and took a slice, happily munching away at her pizza. Next to her the other transgenics having finished their lunches dove in the box for the chocolate goodies inside. Max could feel the warmth of Alec's leg warming hers and scooted in a little closer so their legs were touching from hip to knee.

'Two can play at that game' Alec though and leaned over in front of her at a slice of pizza left over from a different box. As he moved his hand over his elbow swept across her abdomen in a soft caress and Max held her breath. On the way back his arm wandered again and stroked her abdomen softly. He covered his actions up by talking to Sketchy but Max had no idea what he was saying. She was too busy dealing with the feelings that assaulted her from that small touch. After the lunch was over O.C. nodded at Alec and pulled Sketchy away from the table.

"Come on fool, O.C. still has a package to deliver in sector 12 and there is now way she is going there alone again."

Clearing the table in front of them from the boxes, handing Max her share of the cookies Alec motioned Biggs go bring up the plans for the heist. As Biggs laid them out in front of them he snorted and spoke softly.

"Ok the location of the meet in this warehouse down at the docks. For some reason these nitwits thought it was a safe and neutral location to conduct their business. Unfortunately for them they choose a warehouse we have under surveillance because it has an access point to TC. Now we had already commenced disabling the exits so there is only one entry and exit point available at the moment. That's good 'cause we know exactly where they will be coming from but it also means you'll have to hide inside long before the scheduled time of the meet."

Max nodded "In case one of these idiots decided to want to be smart and come early and sweep the perimeter."

"One they arrive it's a matter of smash and grab, one thing though don't let them kill each other there, we don't want sector police all over our access point. All you need is in here," Biggs pulled out a bag pack and handed it to Alec, "Cece even managed to put some snacks in."

"Ok, Max we better get going if you want to pick up your baby." Alec got up waited for Max to do the same and in unison they headed for the door.

"Ok, how about you let me drive this time." Alec couldn't resist looking at Max with a mischievous smile on his face. He could've said nothing but it was just too much fun to piss his Maxie off and watch the fire in her eyes come alive.

Not even taking the time to answer the question, Max glared in Alec's direction, got on her baby and revved the engine. Before Max could get the idea of leaving without him, Alec jumped on the back of the bike. As soon as his ass hit the seat Max hit the gas and weaved into traffic, smiling Alec grasped the hem of her shirt and hung on for dear life. Max felt him grasping at her to stay on the bike and her smile went to a full-blown grin as she revved the engine again and skirted round corners at life threatening speed. She makes her way to the docks and drives straight onto the loading ramp of the warehouse. Seeing Joshua at the opening leading to TC she drove straight up to him and skidded to a halt right there in front of him. Others would have jumped aside, but Joshua knows that Max would never harm him, so he merely stands there with open arms.

Max flies into his open arms, and giggles as he picks her up for a bigger hug. Max ruffles his hair and Joshua let out a small bark out of glee.

"Hi big fella, how are you doing? I wasn't expecting you here."

"Hi little fella, Mole said you'd be here and I wanted to see you. You have to come see my new place; it's as big as father's house."

"I will, Josh as soon as I have some time, ok. I'll even bring you some new books."

Alec got of the bike also and pushed to the side to hide it from view. Turning to Joshua he smiled at the sight of this small girl having almost completely disappeared in the arms of the big guy. When Joshua spots Alec he yelps and pulls Alec in for a big hug as well. Grinning Alec pats Joshua on his back "Hey big fella, I'm happy to see you too."

Alec extricated himself from the hug and began with a sweep of the perimeter, Biggs and Cece would be here later to be their backup but a good CO leaves nothing to chance. Max might see him as a screw-up but when it comes to missions there was no one better at Manticore then Alec.

Joshua let go of Max and held her at arms length.

"Little fella looks good, happy," he concluded and waved in the direction that Alec had gone, cocking his head to one side, "Mac and Alec, new plan?"

"No Joshua, no new plan Alec is just our friend you know that."

Joshua accepted what Max had said but in his mind he knew Max's newfound happiness had come from her acceptance of herself and he could see Alec had a big part in that. Max couldn't see it yet but everybody else in TC had, there was even a pool in TC on when exactly she and Alec would be getting busy. Mole had set it up and he had some serious money riding on her first heat, and Logan catching them in the middle of it. Joshua hadn't bet on their getting together, partly because he felt it was wrong and partly because if Mole could help it he would make sure he'd win the pool.

When Joshua could hear Mole yelling at him from the access point he quickly waved at Max and made his way to the trap door. Max followed him there and after Joshua had closed it from the inside she moved some more boxes in front of it to hide it better. When she turned she found Alec in front of her with one hand to his ear.

"Max we better find someplace to hide it seems an advance party has come to make a sweep of the building."

Max quickly made her way to the closed door and opened to find a broom closet. Hearing a door open behind her she realized there would be no time to find another hiding place, so she quickly stepped forward and turned to drag Alec in behind her. As she turned she found Alec had already followed her in and was softly closing the door behind them. As Max examined their surroundings more closely she found there wasn't a lot of room in this place. Alec put his hand to his ear again and seemed to sigh in response.

While whispering only loud enough for other transgenics to hear, Alec jimmied the lock so that the door couldn't be opened from the outside. "They've entered the building, and they seem to be snooping around. We'll have to wait it out."

Max nodded and cleared away some stuff from the ground, then turned over 2 buckets so they could sit down. When Alec lowered himself on the other bucket he found his knees touching hers, it didn't bother him but he didn't realize the devastating effect it had on her. Max tried to remain calm outwardly but in her mind thoughts were screaming for attention. Since Max had needed to avoid skin contact with Logan she had unconsciously avoided skin contact with everyone else as well. So this prolonged knee touching was a pleasant form of torture for her, add that to the dreams she'd been having with Alec in the lead and it was amazing she even managed to sit still. Her mind was screaming for her to get the hell away from him but at the same time she was mesmerized by the warm feeling spreading to her legs from the contact at her knees.

She was wringing her hands in her lap and refused to face him, Alec on the other hand had noticed something was going on, Max didn't fidget normally but he could think of anything she would be nervous about. In an effort to ease her nervousness, he pulled one leg into his lap hand started massaging her calf. Although her conscious mind wanted to bristle at his familiarity with her body she found her instincts were welcoming the touch of his hands.

When Alec looked at her face he saw the conflicting emotions fly across her face before she could lower her gaze in defense. He suddenly realized that she had missed contact in the last months since the torching of Manticore.

"Max.... Max," he slowly repeated till he had her attention, "how much do you know

about being transgenic? Have you ever studied feline behavior?"

Max wanted to lash out at him tell him how she wasn't interested in the screwed up things her genes made her do. But she could feel her anger dissipate with his touch on her leg, so instead she sighed. "Not really, I haven't had much good experiences with my genes. I know I don't need much sleep, I can run faster, jump further, see and smell better, I turn into a .... But nothing else, why?"

Alec smiled when he realized what she had left out, he thought 'someone should definitely explain her heats to her, but certainly not me, I still need all my body parts in one piece and fully functional.'

"Well, most of your abilities come from feline DNA, now it doesn't really matter which member of the feline species the effects are pretty much the same. One very important thing is that we need to touch each other regularly," A smirk darted across his face, "Why do you think you keep hitting me Maxie?"

Max snorted. "Because you deserve it... most of the time."

Startled at the admission at the end, Alec nearly forgot what he was going to say next. He was interrupted when he heard movement outside the door. Both transgenics looked transfixed at the doorknob when it slowly started to turn. Putting one hand of his arm Max wanted to stand up. Alec stopped her and pointed at the knob, Max saw it wouldn't turn any further and after another few tries she heard footsteps moving away from the door. After a sigh of relief, Max sagged back down and smiled at him. Alec's heart did a double take at the sight of her smile. Max was smiling and she was smiling at him maybe pigs really could fly.

"Nice trick soldier, I do hope we can still get out of here when they are gone."

"No worries Maxie, we'll get out of here when we need to."

"So about this touching thing, are you telling me I've been felling so strung out because I've not touched anyone?"

"Max I'm sure you've seen domestic cats sleeping together in a huddle, or grooming each other. We have the same needs; it's what keeps us connected to our units. It is why we are such good fighters; we depend on each other and trust each other with our life because we are so close."

Realization hit Max with the force of a ton of bricks, her legs buckled and Alec caught her and cradled her in his arms. She sobbed softly in his arms and hid her face in his shoulder. She smelled his scent and all the images of her dreams floated to the surface through her pain.

"It's been so long since I've let anyone close. I....I didn't want to get careless."

"Yeah well it makes sense, you wouldn't want to accidentally kill the love of your life would-ya." Alec tried to hide the hurt from his voice happy she was hiding in his shoulder so she couldn't see his face. Then he felt something strange, he was expecting an adamant defense of her "we're-not-like-that-relationship but he felt her shaking her head in his shoulder. Not daring to ask her to explain why she was shaking no he instead tried to lighten the mood a little.

"Well Maxie, I guess you can do something about the fixation about my ass, now that you know."

She smiled in his shoulder and moved her head a little so she could look at him. Their eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity, then she moved her hand and swatted him on the shoulder but it didn't hurt. Not really anyway. To be honest, compared to before, it felt closer to a caress. Alec looked at her in surprise and focused his eyes on her lips, 'She was stunning, her beauty only matched by her attitude. Life had thrown her lemons and somehow she was managing to make lemonade.'

Max licked her lips as she found herself under serious scrutiny close-up. Suddenly she felt Alec had unconsciously started caressing her back in a circular motion soothing her. Max leaned into the caress and laid her head back on his shoulder.

"So Alec, how about you? Is there anyone special that gives you the touch you need?"

"Well Maxie apart from all the stunning women all attracted to me you mean"

Max merely snorted in response and waited for him to continue.

"Ok to be honest there is this one.....woman but unfortunately she doesn't notice me."

Deep inside Max felt a sudden lunge at his admission, something she didn't quite understand. She was supposed to love Logan but she didn't, she was supposed to find Alec annoying but she didn't. She could feel Alec's muscles tensing and she moved her arms around him to hug him. Although she had first wanted to tease him, she felt this was important to him.

"Alec, I'm sure she'll come around. If I can change my mind about you anyone can."

Before Alec could reply he could hear Biggs in his ear saying that both groups of dealers had arrived outside and that they had the outside covered.

"Max we're on."

Max stood up and moved to the side to Alec could open the lock. They moved in ambush positions while Biggs and Cece created a distraction outside. Alec swiped the suitcase with the cash of the table and tossed it to Max who hung suspended from the ceiling. As Alec slowly crept away from the table, Max did the same on the ceiling and they easily cleared the room without being noticed. Alec moved the bike out and revved the engine. That got the attention from the remaining thugs inside, as Max dropped from the ceiling behind him she held on while he sped through the warehouse and out the door. The thugs gave chase all the while screaming at each other they had been betrayed.

As Max and Alec sped away on the motorcycle they could hear the sirens coming from up ahead and Alec turned into an alley to avoid detection. He turned off the engine and stepped off the bike. As the police rounded the corner and shone their headlights into the alley Max crossed the distance between them and molded her body to match his while planting her mouth firmly on his. Alec quickly recovered and moving his hands behind her began stroking her back. He felt a little overwhelmed by the onslaught of her body pressed against his, but saw no reason not to enjoy their little show. Moving one hand to her face he licked her lower lip asking for more access.

Max on the other hand only intended to provide them with an alibi when she pressed herself against him but his touch felt like nothing else she had felt before and she found herself softly purring in the back of her throat. As Alec heard her he was amazed, and wanted to investigate this further. Unfortunately the reason they had started this charade had come close enough to see what was going on.

"Hey lovebirds, take it somewhere else. It's not safe out here, we've got criminals on the loose," Turning to his partner, "Kids, never know any better, if one of them trannies were here they'd be slaughtered."

At that last comment Max felt a growl coming up from her throat; she stopped in amazement at what she was doing and instead turned to Alec to see if he had heard. Judging by his face he must have.

Softly whispering so only he would hear. "I must be closer to my instincts cause I feel like ripping his throat out for that," then more loudly and turning so she could face the officer "Thank you for the warning sir, my boyfriend will get me home safely."

Alec got in motion and they pushed the motorcycle past the police car into the street, leaving the suitcase in the trash. They double-backed back to the warehouse and found Cece suspended from the ceiling in the same place Max had been before. She was throwing down bundles in every direction and a bunch of X7's was standing below her catching them.

"You can also trust Cece to turn a chore into a game."

"I heard that!" came from the ceiling. Cece let herself fall down also, only to be caught by Biggs in the process. She giggled and waved to Max as a goodbye.

"Seems like the party is over, want me to drive you home?" As she faced Alec she could tell something was bothering him but his face also told her he didn't want to talk about it. That was fine by her she had her own issues she didn't want to share.

"You know what I think I know what you could use, hop on."

They made their way through the streets and stopped in front of an abandoned building.

The space needle.

Fin


End file.
